Photo: flickr-mag3737
You’ve likely heard the term “trackback” in reference to blogs, but do you know how to make one? Like most things techie, it’s really quite simple once you know how. Here’s a step by step guide to the basics of how to make a trackback.
Step 1:
If you are reading someone’s blog and you like a particular post, click on the title of the article.
Step 2:
That will bring you to a page that is exclusively devoted to that article. Look in the address bar of that page and copy the link (that link is called a PERMALINK).
Step 3:
Now go to your own blog and paste that link into an post that you write. For example, you might write “I was just over at Sally’s blog reading her excellent post http://www.sallysblog.com/title-of-the-post-you-like/.
Step 4:
In most blogging software that’s all you have to do. When you publish your post it will automatically “ping” Sally’s blog and leave her a message saying that you did a trackback to her.
Step 5:
Watch your screen the first time you do it to see if there’s a message that says something to the effect of “pinging http://www.sallysblog.com/title-of-the-post-you-like/”
Step 6:
6) If you don’t see a message to this effect, then it means that your blogging software doesn’t do trackbacks automatically. In that case, you’ll have to do an extra step: look on the page where you composed your post for a place that says “trackbacks”. In the blogging software that I use, that place is down in the lower right corner. Paste the PERMALINK (http://www.sallysblog.com/title-of-the-post-you-like/) in the trackback box and publish your post.
And that’s it!
This is a really simplified version of how to make a trackback. There are, of course, finer points that you can learn by reading posts such as the one here by Joe Pisano (via Liz Strauss at Problogger)
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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Barbra!
Great explanation and an important topic. I remember when I didn’t know what a trackback was, and later, how delighted I was to be able to share Joe Pisano’s work with my readers at Successful-Blog His clear description of trackbacks is one of the best I’ve seen. Now yours is too. I’ll have to add it to my NEW BLOGGER page at Successful-Blog when I finish my guest posting at Problogger.
Thanks for mentioning me.
Liz Strauss
Barbra,
Great simple, article… both informative and useful. It is interesting to me though, that I found this not as a trackback on my site but on rather in my statlog.
Liz, mentioned to me that she experiences this as well sometimes. I’m curious to know what is the engine behind your site, is it Wordpress?
Joe Pisano
http://www.mustech.net
Really good article. I’m looking forward to putting it on my blog carnival at http://techloaf.com/index.php?/archives/19-Blog-Carnival-Best-of-Web-2.0.html
Thanks!
Randy
Carnival Showcasing Female Talent
Welcome to the March 30, 2007 edition of a showcase of female talent. Anna presents 10 Reasons Why Less is Often More posted at The Engaging Brand JoLynn Braley presents How to Stop Perfectionism from Derailing Your Diet posted at
Hi Liz, Joe and Randy,
Glad to hear that you found the article helpful! Thanks for letting me know.
Joe, to answer your question, my blog is powered by MoveableType.
Hi,
The answers unfortunately wern’t sufficient for me. I habe a Blogaccount on Blogspot. Trackback isn’t available there. Therefore, I guess, one has to manually edit the HTML Script. Can you give some information on that?
thanks and cheers
Dominik,
Unfortunately, I don’t know much about Blogger. My suggestion would be to ask your question on the Blogger support forum. Good luck!
Comment faire un trackback?
J’ai lu l’article suivant car je ne comprenais pas comment faire un trackback. Je croyais que les trackbacks permettaient publier un article d’un autre blog sur son propre blog. J’ai donc compris qu’un trackback est en fait un permalien pointant sur…
Thank you for this because I have been trying to grasp the concept of trackbacks however just didn’t understand. I am one of those people who works better when it is written in step by step instructions and then once I go through the process a few times then I get it.
Thank you again!
Sincerely,
Teresa Morrow
Thanks the simple straight forward instructions. Just starting out and blogs like yours are a godsend.
I will be back again and again
Thanks
thanks for the tutorial! I’ve heard that trackbacks are supposed to be extremely helpful in getting traffic to your site, I just didn’t know how to create one. yours is probably the shortest and easiest tutorial I’ve found on the subject… thanks again!!
thnaks for this information , you are a whizkid
you cleared my doubt where to find the track back link in blogger sites
Thanks
Well I’ve tried to do a trackback for the first time, will be interesting to see how it works, thanks for the informative article.
Okay, I tried it, but it didn’t work. I tried to do a trackback to this post. I know that my blog gets trackbacks and I have to approve them. Maybe that’s the problem-you didn’t approve it.
Did you at least get my trackback?
ooh thanks!!! thats quite helpful
i try to follow your lead.
But it seems like didn’t works.
Any suggestions?
Thanks for the simplified explanation. Now… if I can just get some trackbacks.
Great article.
Trackback is supported by many blogs and it is indeed a great way for anyone to comment around the blog world while retaining his/her own identity and many link backs to his/her own blog.
Thanks a million! How do you know if it worked?
I was wondering how to do a trackback and you gave me the info!
Thanks for sharing!
Pascale
it was a great info for newbie like me… if there is nothing the same title with our title in blog can be also we trackback?
@agus, I’m afraid I don’t understand your question. Perhaps you could rephrase it?